Eddie Howe had never attended a Champions League match until last month but anyone who expected Newcastle’s manager to display a novice’s grasp of elite European tactical intricacies was soon disabused as his side raced to the top of Group F.
Yet after a draw in Milan and a home dismantling of Paris Saint-Germain Howe and his players finally met their match in Edin Terzic’s intelligently incisive Borussia Dortmund. On a night when torrential rain cascaded down from the skies above Tyneside, Felix Nmecha’s fine first-half winner ensured that, with three games to go, qualification for the knockout stages has been thrown wide open.
It was so wet at St James’ Park that giant paper towel rolls had to be pinched from the toilets to mop up the pools of water collecting on the plastic press box seats and creating rivulets along the work benches. It was so bad the mini televisions which serve as replay monitors were kept indoors due to an electrocution risk.
Happily for the teams the playing surface was in rather better shape, proving conducive to a slick, speedy, end-to-end contest with both goalkeepers swiftly called to arms. No sooner had Nick Pope reacted superbly to repel Donyell Malen’s shot after Marius Wolf’s stellar pass bisected Newcastle’s backline than Gregor Kobel was showing off similarly sharp reflexes to keep Anthony Gordon’s curler out.
Following a shaky start to the season, Pope has latterly been in magnificent form and it continued as he made a stunning double save to deny first the increasingly impressive Malen and then Nicolas Füllkrug. Sean Longstaff, too, has shone in recent weeks but a midfielder being hyped as a potential England newcomer was rescued by his goalkeeper after being dispossessed by Emre Can in the preamble to that drama. Not to be upstaged entirely, Kobel promptly did well to prevent Gordon from answering back by opening the scoring.
All this happened before Howe was forced to replace a limping Alexander Isak with Callum Wilson in the 14th minute. At that point Dortmund had established themselves as the superior, more incisive passing, side and clearly possessed the knack of deconstructing Newcastle’s press before counterattacking with alacrity.
Terzic’s side certainly did not resemble the group stragglers whose pre-match tally of a solitary point ensured this was something of a make or break fixture for the visitors. Instead, as they posed Jamaal Lascelles and co more first-half problems than Paris Saint-Germain – thrashed 4-1 here – had done in an entire 90 minutes, while proving a particular menace at set pieces it was easy to see why Dortmund came so agonisingly close to winning last season’s Bundesliga.
Anthony Gordon looks dejected after Newcastle’s frustrating defeat. Photograph: Richard Sellers/Getty Images/Allstar
At one point Howe and his assistant, Jason Tindall, became so agitated by their team’s travails that they were ticked off for making a joint technical area appearance, thereby breaching the new rule stipulating that it can only be inhabited by one coach at a time.
As bravely and wholeheartedly as Newcastle hurled themselves into a seemingly never-ending series of blocks and challenges, Dortmund’s ball manipulation was so good that Can, Marcel Sabitzer and friends ensured that the home midfield was never remotely in control.
The good news for Howe was that, as good as Terzic’s team looked at times they could hardly be described as exactly being in charge either. With the visiting cause hampered when Can hobbled off to be replaced by Salih Özcan, a newly emboldened Newcastle poured forward only to come undone by a fabulous counterattacking goal from Nmecha on the brink of half-time.
When Nico Schlotterbeck pinched possession from Gordon thanks to a high calibre, if high risk, tackle he liberated a rapidly breaking Marco Reus before racing upfield to receive the return pass and pull the ball back for Nmecha. Pope was duly punished by a first-time sidefoot finish no goalkeeper would have expected to save.
Even the most diehard Newcastle fan would have struggled to argue that Dortmund’s lead was undeserved. Indeed locals had turned so unusually subdued that that it was the yellow clad Germans perched high in the Leazes End who were generating the greatest noise amid the still incessant rain.
Geordie optimism was reignited when Wilson arguably took one touch too many before testing Kobel’s reflexes at the end of a move featuring fine work from Fabian Schär and Gordon as the time approached for Howe to stick or twist. Newcastle’s manager had Sandro Tonali, expected to be banned for 10 months on Thursday for breaches of Italian betting regulations, on a bench also including Joe Willock, fit again following six months sidelined by hamstring and achilles injuries.
In the event Tonali swiftly replaced Longstaff while Joelinton made way for Jacob Murphy. A shoulder injury meant Murphy lasted a matter of minutes before Willock ran on but neither he, Tonali or anyone else could quite make the desired difference despite twice hitting the bar through Wilson and Gordon’s deflected shot.
